Mālama Honua Global Collage

Mālama honua is Hawaiian for “caring for the Earth.” Using photos and captions, these young learners explore how they care for their own communities by applying the values and actions of mālama honua. Check out their projects, and use the comments section to share perspectives and offer encouragements.

The teachers at this school are developing their school’s greatest sustainable resources—their students and their ability to think of solutions to real-world problems. When the kindergarteners found out that Hawaiʻi depends on 97% of its food coming from U.S. mainland and foreign sources, the students decided to start a garden to grow their food. For the second graders, concerns about mosquito-borne illnesses, such as dengue fever and Zika virus, led these enterprising future leaders of Hawaiʻi to come up with eco-friendly mosquito repellents to protect themselves and the planet.

Students at Dongtan Jungang Elementary are lucky to live in a commuter town outside of Seoul, South Korea, with many ‘smart city’ features. They focus here on energy conservation practices and technology in their town and homes, and also share ways that they and their families incorporate the practice and principles of mālama honua in their daily lives.

In this student-created mural, students share their thoughts on the importance of the ocean in their community, how it nourishes them, how it makes them happy, and how it is being affected by misuse and neglect.

Students at this elementary school located in Oahu’s Palolo Valley showcase the myriad ways that they are tapping the natural island bounty–the rainwater, sun, fruits, and trees–to increase sustainability and keep Hawai‘i beautiful.

Living near the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, students at this rural school know how important nature and biodiversity are for their health and livelihoods. But they also know how careless people can be to protect nature. Here, using words and photos, they explain the challenges they face.

Cherry blossoms and flowers were in full bloom when the students at Doekin Elementary School did their Mālama Honua project. Here, students share their appreciation for the beauty that nature provides their town. But they’re also concerned that food waste is disposed of properly, and they share their good habits in pictures.